Loop modifying mechanism of straight knitting machines



J. HELD 2,242,070 LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT "KNIT-TING MACHIQNES May 13, 1941.

Filed Feb. 8, 1938 6 Sheets-Sheet l 11v VENTOR In field vBY Jose s J. HELD May 13, 1941.

LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1938 Jose BY INVENTOR.

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LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 8, 1938. 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. Jase 4118M,

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May 13, 1941. J HELD 2,242,070

' LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 8, 1938 e Sheets-Sheet 4 11v VENTOR; Jase eld,

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May 13, 1941. J. HELD 2,242,070

1.00? MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 8, 1915s, 6 Shets-Sheet s 51 FLE E 7i @5 m 65 w 55 W by 1 a I 77 1 :E: 1.5- ..Q- 9

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J. HELD 2,242,070

LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES May 13, 1941.

Filed Feb. 8; 1958 e Sheets-Sheet s FLE-J.

11v VENT'OR; Jos ah field,

A TTORK Pia-"LE1- Patented May 13, 1941 LOOP MODIFYING MECHANISM OF STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINES Joseph Held, West Reading, Pa... assignor to Textile Machine Works, Wyomissing, 2a., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 8, 1938, Serial No. 189,310

21 Claims.

The present invention relates to a full fashioned knitting machine adapted to make both the leg and foot portions of stockings.

Combined legger and footer full fashioned knitting machines have been proposed, but various reasons have coacted to prevent their use to any important extent, it having been the custom in the trade to have both leggers and footers in each factory. The design and proportions of such leggers and footers have become stand-- ardized and the parts compressed into as small a space as practical. The manufacture of the parts and their assembly have become routine matters, so that non-standard machines are more expensive. As the legger machine makes the widest portion of the stocking and the portion of the stocking knitted first, standard leggers are longer per section than standard footers, so that any attempt to convert one of these standard machines to a dual purpose machine necessarily must start with a legger machine. Although there are commercial considerations implling knitters to perform both legging and footing operations on one machine there has never been a practical conversion of the standard legger to a dual purpose machine.

It is an ol-ject of the present invention to provide an arrangement whereby an existing standard full fashioned leggerknitting machine may be converted to perform footer operations as well as legger operations under commercial conditions and with only minor changes in the mechanism.

Combined leggers and footers have been built as such, but have suffered from the fact that such dual purpose machines have been uneconomical of space, requiring more room per knitting section in order to prevent mechanical interference between the parts.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for dual purpose knitting machines which shall have a relatively high space efficiency.

Prior dual purpose full fashioned knitting machines, moreover, have been longer per knitting section than standard legger machines.

Another object of the invention is to provide a full fashioned knitting machine having one or more knitting sections of the usual length for standard legger machines and adapted to perform all the usual operations of both leggers and footers.

One of the especially serious difiiculties faced by designers of dual purpose full fashioned knitting machines has been that of preventing interference between the full length picot or lock stitch bars of the legger type machine and the narrowing combs.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arrangement for full .fashioned knitting machines permitting the use of picot bars of the legger machine type and narrowing combs of the footer machine type in knitting sections of the width ordinarily used in leggers, but without mechanical interference.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, my invention resides in th novel elements, features of construction and arrangement of parts in cooperative relationship as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a common type of knitting machine havin my invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing certain of the parts in different relative positions;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of some of the parts appearing in Figs. 2 and ,3 taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the parts in difierent relative positions;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of Fig. 6, taken substantially on the line 1-1 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 8 is a front elevational view on an enlarged scale of the parts shown on the upper right portion of Fig. l, certain parts however being shown in different relative positions;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view, partly in section, showing certain of the parts appearing in the right hand portion of Figs. 2 and 3, parts being omitted for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line l0l0 of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the same line of section as Fig. 6 and illustrating certain of the parts thereof;

Fig. 12 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line l2l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a sectional plan view taken substantially on the line l3--l3 of Fig. 2, certain parts being broken away to show elements behind the line of section;

Fig. 14 is a view similar to Fig. 13 but showing the parts in different relative positions;

Fig. 15 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line l|5 ofFig. 2;

Fig. 16 is a vertical sectional View taken substantially on the line l6l6 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 17 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line l'|-l'! of Fig. 13.

In the drawings and description, only those parts necessary to a complete understanding of the invention have been set forth; further information as to the construction and operation of other elements not herein specifically pointed out, but which are usual and well known, being available in the pamphlet entitled Full Fashioned Knitting Machines, copyright 1920, and. in the Reading" Full Fashioned Knitting M'a.-

chine Catalogues, copyright 1929 and 1935, published by the Textile Machine'Works, Reading, Pa., and in a pamphlet entitled Knitting Macenter of the machine and means is provided to insert a wedge shaped block or cam (not shown) between the ends of the two shafts 35 to provide for the necessary horizontal motions of the shafts when transferring stitches. Two other shafts 33 and 39 are shown mounted in blocks 31. Shafts 38 and 39 are for carrying covering knives and special lace points respectively (not shown) and are not concerned with the present invention. I

The invention illustrated is embodied in a standard legger machine and thereby provides an chine Lectures, published in 1935 by the Wyomissing Polytechnic Institute, Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

The machine shown in the drawings comprises a framework I9 on which is mounted a series of machine sections 2|, each intermediate two transverse frames 20 and including two needle banks 22 which receive knitting motions from cams on a main cam shaft 23 through suitable connections or mechanism in the usual manner. For purposes of narrowing the fabric when desired, each needle bank has associated therewith a pair of Wide combs 2525 and a pair ofnarrow combs 26-26. For purposes of making lock stitches for picot edges and other purposes, each needle bank has assdciated therewith a lock stitch Combs 25 and 26 and bars or lace bar 21. 21 all have points therein adapted when the combs or bars are dipped from a certain level to lift certain loops from the needles of banks 22 and, after the combs or'bars have been lifted to clear the needles and shifted. horizontally, to place the lifted loops on other needles of the banks. In order to carry out such transferring operations, combs 25 and 26 and bar 21 are connected in the usual way to a front narrowing shaft 28. Shaft 28 is mounted to swing up and down in the usual way, being fixed at the forward ends of arcuate links 3| '(Fig. 2) mounted at their rear ends on a rear narrowing shaft-32 which is turnably mounted in bearings secured to the framework l9. By means of this arrangement, the narrowing shaft 28 follows an arcuate path, with shaft 32 as a center, during the up and down movement thereof.

The combs 25 and 26 are mounted directly on rods 33 which are slidable but not rotatable in brackets 34 fixed to front narrowing shaft 26. The horizontal motions of the rods 33 which occur in the narrowing operation are supplied by nuts 29--29, Fig. 1, on the narrowing heads 30 in the usual way. The lock stitch bars 21 are arranged in two groups each fixed to a shaft '35 by arms 36, shafts being swivelled in blocks 31 fastened to the front faces of brackets 34 so that bars 21 may be swung down into the position shown in Figs. 6, 8 and 11 in which they may operate on the fabric or may be swung up into the rest or inoperative position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Only one shaft 35 is shown but the ordinary arrangement provides that theends of two such shafts approach each other at the the length per section usual in leggers.

arrangement for knitting both foot and leg portions of the flat blanks used in making full fashioned stockings.

use of the footer type narrowing combs with picot or lock stitch bars and needle bars of the legger type in knitting sections and machines of In accordance with the invention, this is accomplished by raising the combs 25 and 26 above the level from which they begin their narrowing operations and operating the picot bar or bars while the combs are so raised. The arrangement for this purpose includes arms 36 longer than the ordinary so that one or more lock stitch bars 21, may operate from a top position (usually a rest position), Fig. 3, of the front narrowing shaft 26 instead of from the lower position thereof shown in Fig. 2, it being common to provide means for raising and lowering the front narrowing shaft from a lower operating level to a higher one from which no operations are usually performed because the points would not touch the fabric if a dipping motion were initiated from the higher level. Ordinarily, the narrowing combs and picot bars both start their functional movements from the lower position 'of Fig. 2, the combs being spread apart when desired to permit the picot bars to be lowered without interference. As shown, the'arms 36 for the lock stitch bars are longer than usual so that the lace points in abar or bars 21 may' operate on the fabric, if the front narrowing shaft 28 is dipped, when shaft 28 is initially at the higher level of Fig. 3. Means for elevating the front narrowing shaft 26 to the level of Fig. 3 at which level the narrowing points of the combs 25 and 26 are prevented from operating on the fabric even though the shaft 28 is dipped, are provided in ordinary legger and footer machines and comprise vertical links 4'2, one end of each of which provides a bearing for the shaft 28. Links 42 are pivoted at their lower ends to horizontal levers 43 at points near the rear and free ends thereof, the forward forked ends of levers 43 being pivoted to the frame on an axis 44. The rear ends of levers 43, however, project somewhat to the rear of their points of connection upwardly to engage levers 43 and lift the shaft 28 and the connected parts. The combs 25 and 26 are thereby raised so far above the knitting needles in banks 22 that the narrowing points in the combs cannot touch the fabric to operate on it even when dipped by the ordinary dipping means. It will be understood that handle 48 must be in the down position of Fig. 2 when narrowing or other loop transferring operations are performed so that the cams 61 may be eifective.

The position of the combs 25 as shown in Fig. 2 is approximately that from which the dipping motion which initiates a narrowing operation starts. to bring bars 21 and the points carried thereby downward from the rest position shown in Figs. 2 and 5 to that shown in Fig. 6 and in which the points in the lock stitch bar 21 are the same However, the arms 36 are long enoughdistance from the knitting needles when shaft 28 is raised as the points in combs 25 and 26 are when shaft 28 is down as in Figs. 1, 2 and 5. Therefore, when the bars 21 are in the position shown in Fig. 6, the points in bars 21 may be used to transfer certain stitches to make a lock stitch structure. When so lowered, arms 36 may be held to position bars 21 properly in the horizontal direction by screws 52 (Figs. 6, 8 and 11) which are fixed in arms 36 and rest against shaft 39.

However, due to the arcuate movement of front narrowing shaft 28 whenraised and lowered, the points in combs 25 and 26 project forward enough as shown in Figs. 8, 11 and 12 to enter the volume outlined by bars 21. In order to prevent interference between the points and bars, bars 21 are shown cut away to form recesses 53, 53 at the corners of the bars and a central recess 54. As is clear from Figs. 8, l1 and 12, recesses 53 and 54 are deep enough to prevent interference of the points in c'ombs 25 and 26 with the operation of the bars 21.

It will be understood that means are ordinarily provided for holding the bars 21 fixed in the correct angular position during the periods the bars 21 are to be dipped to pick up loops from the needles. A commonly used arrangement for this purpose is shown in Figs. 1, '1 and 8 and comprises thin fiat extensions 55 projecting downwardly from the lower ends of certain of the blocks 31. Arms 56 fixed on the lock stitch shaft 35 are of a length proper to reach the level of extensions 55 when bars 21 have been swung down into their lower position and arms 56 have off-sets 51 at their free ends which extend rearwardly when the arms are lowered so that off-sets 51 are adapted to overlie extensions 55 when viewed as in Fig. '7. Also, offsets 51 have grooves 58 therein adapted to receive extensions 55 to prevent shaft 35 and bars 21 from turning during dipping operations. Shaft 35 has pivoted thereon a camming piece 59 having a bevelled face 62 arranged for pivotal movement between a collar 6| fixed on shaft 35 and an abutment 63, shown in the form of a screw fixed in a bracket 64 on the front narrowing shaft 28. The camming piece 59 is biased toward abutment 63 by means of a spring 65 coiled on shaft 35, which moves shaft 35 in the direction to bring off-sets 51 in the same plane transverse to shaft 35 as extensions 55, see Fig. 8. In order to move bar 21 to its raised or inoperative position or to its lower position where the bar acts on the fabric, the camxning piece 59 must be in the position of Fig. 1', so that off-sets 51 will clear the extensions 55v of blocks 31. After bar 21 has been lowered to the position of Fig. 8, camming piece 59 is given a partial rotative movement. permitting the springs 65 to move the shaft and the off-sets 51 to the position of Fig. 8 where the extensions =are embraced by the grooves 58, to hold the bars 21 against swinging movement without interfering with the shifting thereof lengthwise of the machine.

As the combs 25 are dipped to act on certain loops on the needles when shaft 28 is at one level and bars 21 are dipped to act on certain loops on the needles when shaft 28 is at another level, the dipping means must be capable of acting under-both conditions. The arrangement shown for this purpose comprises a novel lever and cam follower arrangement as more clearly appears hereinbelow, and also the usual circular idling .cams 66 and the dipping cams proper 61 arranged in pairs side by side on cam shaft 23. Nearly horizontal arms or levers 68 are pivoted on axes 44 to lie beneath levers 43 and extend between the forks at the forward ends thereof. Levers 68 have gudgeons 69 fixed therein in position to support rollers 10 for bearing on cams 66 and 61. When shaft 23 is in the knitting position, rollers 10 are in the planes of circular idling cams 66. ,When shaft 23 has been shifted to narrowing position by known or preferred means 11, rollers 16 are in the planes of cams 61. When therefore the operator prepares the machine for dipping shaft 28, he lowers handle 48 to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 while the shaft 23 is still in knitting position, thereby placing the weight of shaft 28 and attached parts on rollers 10 and thereby on idling cams 66 which maintain shaft 28 at its initial level. When now shaft 23 is shifted by means 1| at the time the high points of earns 61 have been aligned with rollers 10,' the rollers are brought to bear on cams 61 which act to dip shaft 28 during their revolution. If

shaft 28 is then in its lower initial position as shownin Fig. 2, combs 25 or 25 and 26 will act on the fabric when dipped. If, however, shaft 28 is in its upper initial position (Fig. 3) when the rollers 10 are supported on earns 61, and

bars 21 have been lowered as in Figs. 6, '1, 8 and 11, the points in bars 21 will act on the fabric when dipped.

In order to maintain shaft 28 in its upper position prior to dipping after the weight of the shaft 28 has been placed on rollers 18 on the cams 66, the rear ends of levers 43 and 68 are spaced apart, as in Figs. 3 and 16. As is clear from Figs. 2 and 15 in one relative position of the parts, shoulders 12 on levers 43 bear directly on flats at the rear ends of levers 68. In order now that combs 25 and 26 may not act on the fabric when bars 21 are lowered and shaft 28 is dipped by cam 61, the rear ends of levers 68 are grooved transversely to receive slides 13 (Figs. 2 and 13 to 16) the upper surfaces of which are in general flush with the surface of the levers 68, but which carry upwardly projecting bosses 14a in which are bolts 14 which, when the slides 13 have been shifted from the position shown in Figs. 2 and 15 to that shown in Figs. 3 and 16, lie in the planes of levers 43 so that the levers 43 are spaced from levers 68, and shaft 28 and levers 68 are supported in their upper position when roller 16 is on cam 66. In order to effect this relative position of the parts, the operative throws handle 48 up until he lifts levers 43 high enough to slide bolts 14 beneath levers 43 while rollers 18 are on cams 88. Suitable means must be provided whereby the operative may shift slides 13 and thatshown for this purpose comprises levers 5| pivoted (Fig.

lever 43 but that only one handle is provided per machine.

The lower ends of levers 51 are widened to form arcuate rearwardly inclined surfaces 1918 (Figs.

2, 13 and 14) adapted to roll between collars 8l-8l on rod 88 so that a longitudinal movement of rod 88 swings levers ii to move the slides 13. Rod 88 is mounted to slide parallel to cam shaft 23 and is supported on the front of the machine in brackets 82 so as to be operable by hand at the will of the-operative. If now look stitch bars 21 have been swung down from their upper rest position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 11 and the off-sets 51 engaged with extensions 55 to hold bars 21 in fixed angular position, the points in lock stitch bars 21 will be dipped to act on the fabric in the revolution following upon the'next shift of cam shaft 23.

It is apparent that the bars 21 should not be lowered unless combs 25 and 28 have been raised by raising shaft 28. In order to prevent the operatives from lowering bars 21 while combs 25 and 26 are in their lower positlonQshafts have sectors 15 (Fig. 5) fixed thereon which extend upwardly and somewhat rearwardly therefrom when bars 21 and arms 36 are in the upper or rest po-- sition. Shoes 16 are provided and arranged to engage sectors 15 to prevent bars 21 from being lowered except when desired. For this purpose, shoes 16 "are fixed to the upper and rear ends of bent levers 11, one for each shaft 35 but only one of which is shown, which are pivoted near their centers at points 18 and are biased by springs 88 to hold shoes 16 to the rear. The forward and lower ends of levers 11 may be held up to throw shoes 18 rearwardly close to sectors 15 to prevent the sectors from turning forward and .to thereby lock bars 21 against turning forwardly and downwardly. Means' are provided to latch leverv 11 and shoe 18 in locking position.

The means shown for this purpose comprises a bolt 83 (Figs. 5 and 9) fixed in the lower forward end of each of levers 11 and adapted when the lever is raised to, locking position to permit a latching-collar 84 fixed on a rod 88 to move under bolt 83 to hold lever 11 and shoe 16 in the looking position shown in Fig. 5. When collar 84 is moved out from under bolt 83, the lever 11 is free to be moved by sector 15 against the action of springs 68 into the position shown in Figs. 6 and 9 in which arms 38 can be swung around to lower bars 21. 7

A handle 85 is fixed to rod 88 to facilitate movement of the rod by the operative against the action of a spring 86 (Fig. 9). Spring 88 is connected so it tends to move rod 88 toward the right a when viewed as in Fig. 9 to bring collars 84 beneath bolts 83 and to throw levers 5| in the direction to remove bolts 14 from beneath levers 43.

' In order to maintain a stable condition when bars 21 are down as shown in Fig. 8 in preparation the handle 48, the handle and consequently rod 88 is moved leftward from the position of Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 9, thereby causing levers 5| to move slides 13 and bolts 14 from the positions of Fig. 15 to the right to the positions of Fig. 16, removing collars 84 from under bolts 83 and permitting transfer bars 21 to be swung into their operative positions shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8 and 11, as spring 88 (Fig. 10) acts to latch the parts in this position by throwing latch lever 81 forward and downward to bring a lug 8|. thereon alongside a collar 82 on rod 88 to hold rod 88 to the left against the action of spring 88. As soon as the operative has finished using bars 21, he may lift them to the rest position of Fig. 5 and thereupon the springs 88 will swing levers 11 so that collars 84 can pass under bolts 83. If then the operative raises handle 48 to sustain shaft 28 and the parts connected thereto, he may lift lever 81 and permit spring 88 to throw rod 88 to shift bolts 14 out from under levers 43 and, at the same time, throw collars 84 under bolts 83 to lock the bars 21 in their rest positions. A collar 89 on shaft 88 limits the throw of shaft 88 under influence of spring 88 by contacting a bearing 82 for shaft 88 to thereby ensure that a collar 84 shall lie beneath a bolt 83 on a lever 11. The front narrowing shaft 28 and attached parts may then be lowered to bring the narrowing combs 25 and 28 into position from which they may, when dipped, operate on the loops. A safety release unit generally indicated at 4| and mounted on back beam l8, see Figs. 2, 3 and 4, is commonly employed, and cooperates with the crank 48 and the narrowing lift shaft 41, in well known manner, to prevent a sudden downward drop of the loop modifying mechanism comprising the narrowing combs. lock stitch bars and associated mechanism when the front narrowing shaft 28 is released from its top position. For further details concerning safety release mechanisms of the type indicated at 4|, reference may be had to the U. S. Patent No. 1,928,283 which issued to John G. Ennis 0 September 26, 1933.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described by which I obtain the above results, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

What I claim is:

1. 'In a full fashioned knitting machine, in com-.

bin'ation, a cam shaft, a second shaft, a cam and lever means arranged to sustain said second shaft at constant level when the cam shaft is in knit-' ting position and to dip said second shaft when the cam shaft has been shifted, and means whereby said cam and lever means may sustain said second shaft at two different levels and dip it from either of said levels as desired through operative cycles of corresponding magnitude.

2. In a knitting machine, a shaft mounted to move up and down, a series of needles, point means including a lock stitch bar and a narrowing comb supported by said shaft adapted to cooperate with said needles, and means for actuating said shaft from difierent levels to effect corresponding movement cycles of each of said point means.

3. In a knitting machine, a single means mounted to move up and down, a series of needles, point means including a lock stitch bar and a narrowing comb supported by said single means adapted to cooperate with said needles, and means for actuating said single means from different levels to effect corresponding movement cycles of each of said point means.

4. In a knitting machine, in combination, a shaft arranged to operate from an upper and from a lower starting position to effect an upper and a lower operative cycle of corresponding magnitude, a first and a second loop manipulating means supported by said shaft, said first loop manipulating means being operated upon movement of said shaft through its upper cycle and said second loop manipulating means being operated upon movement of said shaft through its lower cycle.

5. In a full fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft, 9. front narrowing shaft actuated by said cam shaft from upper and lower starting positions to effect upper and lower operative cycles respectively of corresponding magnitude, narrowing combs and a point bar supported by the front narrowing shaft, said narrowing combs adapted to act on the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its lower cycle and the point bar adapted to act upon the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its upper cycle, and linkage intermediate said shafts for selectively conditioning the front shaft to operate in the cycle desired.

6. In a full fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft, a front narrowing shaft actuated by said cam shaft from upper and lower starting positions to effect upper and lower operative cycles respectively, narrowing combs and apoint bar supported by the front narrowing shaft, said narrowing combs adapted to act on the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its lower cycle and the point bar adapted to act upon the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its upper cycle and rod operated means for preventing said front narrowing shaft from operating through its lower cycle while said point bars are operatively positioned.

"I. In a full. fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft, a front narrowing shaft actuated by said cam shaft through upperand lower operative cycles, narrowing combs and a point bar supported by the front narrowing shaft, said narrowing combs adapted to act on the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its lower cycle and the point bar adapted to act upon the fabric when the front narrowing shaft is actuated through its upper cycle and means for preventing said front narrowing shaft from operating through its lower cycle while said first point bars are operatively positioned.

8. A full fashioned knitting machine having a needle bank, a lock stitch bar having points and arranged to cooperate with the needles of said bank, combs having points for acting when desired on the selvages of fabric knitted by said bank, and cutout portions in said bar to receive points on said combs.

9. A full fashioned knitting machine having a r an arm pivotally carried by said front shaft to which said lock stitch bar is fixed, said pivoted arm having a length to bring the points on the lock stitch bar to the usual level of the narrowing points when said combs have been raised and the lock stitch bar has been swung down, a cam and lever means arranged to sustain said narrowing shaft at constant level when the cam shaft is in the knitting position and to dip said narrowing shaft when the cam shaft has been shifted, and means whereby said cam and lever means may sustain and dip said narrowing shaft either at and from the position in which the combs are raised or at and from the position in which the combs may operate.

10. In a full fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft, a front narrowin shaft, combs and a lock stitch bar on said second shaft, a cam and levermeans arranged to sustain said narrowing shaft at constant level when the cam shaft is in knitting position and to dip said narrowing shaft when the cam shaft has been position of the cam shaft and dip it from either of said levels as desired through operative cycles of corresponding magnitude.

11. In a full fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft, a front narrowing shaft, and a cam and lever means arranged to sustain said front shaft at constant level when the cam shaft is in knitting position and to dip said front shaft when the cam shaft has been shifted, said sustaining and dipping means comprising a member slidable transversely of the lever portion of said means for varying the height at which the shaft isheld-in a given angular position of the cam portion of said means.

12. In a full fashioned knitting machine, in combination, a cam shaft having sustaining and dipping cams thereon and arranged to be shifted, a front narrowing shaft, a lever pivoted at one end and connected to said narrowing shaft at the other, a second pivoted lever having a cam follower thereon arranged to rest on said sustaining cam when the cam shaft is in knitting position and on said dipping cam when the cam shaft has been shifted and having a contact area for supporting said first lever, and a member slidable between said levers to sustain said narrowing shaft at a higher or lower level as desired at any given angular position of said cams.

13. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination of a front narrowing shaft, combs and a lock stitch bar supported on said shaft each having operative and inoperative positions, a cam shaft arranged to be shifted and having sustaining and dipping cams thereon, a lever arrangement intermediate said narrowing shaft and said cams and including a cam follower arranged to contact said sustaining cam when the cam shaft is in one position and said dipping cam when the cam shaft has been shifted from said position, and means to prevent said lock stitch bar from being placed into operative position when said combs are in operative position i 14. In a full fashioned knittingmachine, the combination as set forth in claim 13 together with means to hold said combs in inoperative position when said lock stitch bar is in operative position.

a cam shaft shiftable from knitting to narrowing position and return, sustaining and dipping cams on said cam shaft, a lever means having a cam follower thereon for contacting said cams, means 16. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the

combination as set forth in claim 15 together with means to hold said lock sti"ch bar in inoperative position when said combs are in position to operate.

1'], In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination as set forth in claim 15 together with means tending to throw the holding means into inoperative position, a latch to lock said holding means in operative position, and means to hold the lock stitch bar in inoperative position when said latch is not in operation.

18. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination of a front narrowing shaft mounted to occupy upper and lower positions, combs and a lock stitch bar supported on said shaft, said combs arranged to be capable of operation when said shaft is in its lower position and said bar arranged to be capable of operation when said shaft is in its upper position, a cam shaft arranged to be shifted and having-sustaining and dippingcams thereon, a lever arrangement intermediate said narrowing shaft and said cams and arranged to support the narrowing shaft, means to lock said lock stitch shaft in inoperative position when said narrowing shaft is in its lower position, and

means to hold said narrowing shaft in its upper position with respect to any given angular position of said cams to permit operation of said lock stitch bar.

19. In a full fashioned knitting machine, the combination as set forth in claim 18 together with means tending to throw said holding means out of action and a latch to hold it in action.

20. In a knitting machinepin combination, a shaft mounted to swing up and down about an external pivot, operator controlled means for setting said shaft at an upper and a lower position, automatic means for dipping said shaft from 'either of said positions, narrowing combs supported from said shaft, means for operating said combs to act on the fabric when said shaft is dipped from said lower position, and a lock stitch bar supported from said shaft, and means for operating said bar to act on the fabric when the shaft is clipped from the upper of said positions.

21. In a knitting machine, in combination, a shaft mounted to swing up and down about an external pivot, operator controlled means for setting said shaft at an upper and a lower position, automatic means for dipping said shaft from either of said positions, narrowing combs supported from said shaft, means for operating said combs to act on the fabric when said shaft is dipped from said lower position, and a lock stitch bar having recessed portions for receiving points on the combs, said bar being supported from said shaft, .and means for operating said bar-to act on the fabric when the shaft is dipped from the upper of said positions.

- JOSEPH HELD. 

